Both the longest song the band has ever recorded and arguably the shortest 10 minutes in rock history, “The Teacher” builds from an understated Dave Grohl and guitar intro, layering impressionistic lyrical refrains onto a series of crescendos, peaks and valleys, before saying goodbye in a blaze of audio overload. A rock epic in the truest sense, “The Teacher” is like nothing the band has done before, yet instantly identifiable as Foo Fighters.
In other previously unexplored territory for Foo Fighters, “The Teacher” scores a short film directed by multimedia artist Tony Oursler. Known since the late 1970s for his body of work spanning video, sculpture, installation, performance, and painting, Oursler came to Foo Fighters’ attention via his work with David Bowie, specifically his video for Bowie’s landmark January 2013 single “Where Are We Now?”.
The resultant collaboration is a beautifully disorienting array of emotive non-linear imagery that transcends boundaries of time and space in its telling of the enigmatic tale of “The Teacher.” If “The Teacher” is Foo Fighters as you’ve never heard them, Oursler’s visual interpretation is certainly Foo Fighters as they’ve never been seen before.
Pre-orders for their new album, ‘But Here We Are‘ can be accessed here.
Oran O’Beirne
www.overdrive.ie 2023